Method of making soles.



I w. c. STEWART. v METHOD OF MAKLNG SOLES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 6. I916.

1,202,237. 2 Patented 0@t. 24,1916.

m: uumz-s PETERS co.. Prmro-Lrrnou WASNINGIQN u c.

WILLIAM c. STEWART, or sWamrscorT,ivmssacirusnrfrs, Assronoaa TO um'rnnsnon MAorrrNEnYcoMrANY, or PATERSON, NEW-;; JERSEY, A CORPORATION '01 NEW JERSEY.

METHOD or Maxine QSoIlE sL.

. Patented Oct. 24, 1916 Original application filed July 1, 1914, Serial No. 848,383 Divided and this application filed March 6, 1916.

' Seria1No. 8'2, 146. l I 1 Torall whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, WILLIAM C. STEWART, a subject of the Kingof Great Britain, residing in Swampscott, in the county of Essex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts,

have invented certain new and useful Im- .An important feature of the novel method consists in the provision at the edge of the outsole blank of gages in the form of abutments or shoulders, for use in a subsequent operation on the sole, which are temporary in character, being removed from the sole edge after the subsequent operation Whatever its nature may be, has been performed, conveniently during theedge trimming operation.

In the manufacture of boots and shoes it is desirablethat the shank of the outsole be skived, or feather-edged as itis generally termed, on its flesh 'sideto provide room at the breast of the heel for the reception of the forward ends of the counter, and rear beveled ends of the welt in 'welted shoes, thus enabling these parts to lie in, a substantially continuous, unbroken line with the sole after the outsole has been applied to thershoe. A further feature of advantage resulting from the shank skiving operation is that a light edged shank is produced upon the sole which imparts a better finish to the shoe as a whole. 7 To gain the full'elfect of either of the advantages just referred to, care must be taken that the shank skiving operation is properly performed, particularly with re lation to the location of the skiving. The skivings should extend forward about to the ends of the ball line on each side of the sole, and rearwardly to a point about opposite the ends of the breast line. At the pres ent time. the shank skiving operation is generally performed by the operative passing the-sole backand forthpa-st a rotary cutter,

- the terminal points of the skiving being determined by eye alone. This results in considerable variation in the length of the skived portions of the soles contained in a days stint'and frequently in the lengths and relative locations of the skived portions of the two soles used on the same pair of shoes. As a result the outsoles cannot be applied to the shoe as nicely as is desired and the appearance of the two shoes of the same pair may be different, a highly undesirable condition. V

It is now becoming the practice to mold outsoles for use in Goodyear shoes, especially where cottage shanks are desired. The line of the sharp break across the forepart should terminate at the ends of the ball line, that is, just forward of the skived portion of the shank. If the-break is not so located relatively to the shank skiving, that is, if it extends forward of the ball line ,'the molding appears. dull and indistinct because the foreparts of the molds of the molding machine are so fitted as to properly take care of a forepart of equal thickness back to the ball line. 'On tl1e other hand if the shank skiving is not carried far enough forward, that is, to the ball line, the crushing pressure of the sharp angleof the molds is liable to break through the sole or squeeze it out of shape and thus produce a cripple. It is highly desirable, therefore, that not only should the shank skiving be accurately placed on the outsole but that some mark or index be afforded for locating the sole between the molds so that, when molding the sole, the sharp break across the forepart will be properly located relatively to the shank skiving.

The object of the present invention is to improve the manufacture of boots and shoes by the provision of a method of making soles which will render it possible for the operative to accurately place the sole on the lower mold of the molding machine with the ball line of the sole on the ball line of the mold, and so that both the forward and rear terminalpoints of the shank skivings may beaccuratelydetermined and thus cause the'skived portions on allsoles of the same shown an outsole made in accordance with the method hereinafter described and having indicated thereon curved dotted lines at the margin of v the shank indicating the boundary of the feather-edging cuts made by the shank skiving knife, and other centrally located dotted lines indicating the sharp break formed in molding a cottage shank. v 7

The outsole a, which may be a dinked-out sole as shown or may be any other commercial form of outsole, is provided across its lateral edge substantially opposite the ends of the breast line with two gages which are, preferably, shallow notches b, and substantially opposite the ends of the ball line with two similar notches 0. The notches, as will presently be described, determine the terminal points or longitudinal boundaries of the shank skivings, the outlines of which are indicated by the dotted lines d.

While the notches for indicating the terminal points of the shank skivings are preferably at the breast and ball lines, for the reason that in the generally accepted method of making shoes a skiving extending between these two lines of the sole is properly located to afford the advantages hereinbefore referred to, the invention does not contemplate that this location of the notches must be rigidly adhered to. In different methods of making shoes, or different styles of shoes, there may be considerable variation in the location of the notches, when used to determine the location of the shank skivings, from what is shown in the drawing.

In utilizing the present method, the shank skivin i machine, which may be similar to that disclosed in Letters Patent of the United States to G. L. Preble, No. 693,902, granted February 25, 1902, is provided with a pair of depending, thin gage plates one at the forward side of the rotary knife and one at its rear side. They improved outsole, is, as usual, held in a vertical plane and passed back and forth across the knife in the well known manner, but with its lateral edge in contact with the lower ends of the gage plates. As'the sole is reciprocated past and against the knife by the operative the rear gage will, when the greatest desirable forward stroke is made, enter the notch 19 or c farthest from the operative thus indicating to him bysense of touch that no further forward movement should be made,l and similarly on the rear stroke of the reciprocations" the forward gage will enter the notch Z) or 0 nearest to the" operative and indicate to him the rear boundary ofthe shank out. a result ashank skiving is produced in'each side of thesole having a length and locationin exact accordance with the best practice'and desire of the shoe manufacturer.

The forward pair of notches o, beingin the lateral edge of the sole, and therefore visible on viewing the sole edgewise, may

conveniently be used as gages for locating the sole on the lower mold of a sole molding machine in such position that the break in the sole (see dotted lines g) resulting from the molding operation, will be produced just at the forward end of the thin or skived portion of the shank. If the step of molding the sole is performed prior to the step of feather-edging the sharpbreaks at the edge of the sole at the ends of the ball line form abutments or shoulders which may be used to determine the forward longitudinal boundaries of the skiving cuts.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art of making shoes that the method may be successfully carried out by providing the edge of the sole at the desired points with small projections, as indicated by dotted lines at e and f, instead of notches. In such case the limit of forward and rearward movement of the sole in the shank skiving operation, would be indicated to the operative by the gage plates abutting against the projections. In either manner of preparing the novel sole the gages formed thereon comprise oppositely facing abutments or shoulders which cooperate with the gages of the feather edging machine to determine the length and location of the cut made by the knife of the machine.

The present method includes, therefore, the step of providing, on any common type of sole blank, conveniently located edge abutments or shoulders, of any suitable character for use in a subsequent operation on the sole. It will be understood that after the molding feather-edging or other subsequent operation has been performed, conveniently during the edge trimming opera- '9 novel sole as an article of manufacture is now claimed, the present invention being confined to the method of making said sole.

The nature and scope of the present invention having been indicated and the preferred manner of practising it having been specifically described, what is claimed as new, is:

1. That method of making feather edged soles which comprises forming on the lateral edge of the sole adjacent one end of its shank portion, a pair of abutments or shoulders for cooperation with the gage of a feather edging machine to determine the longitudinal extent of the skiving cut at that end of the shank, and thereafter trimming the margin ofthe sole thereby removing therefrom that portion of its edge utilized as the shoulders.

2. That method of making feather edged soles which comprises the steps of forming at the edge of the sole two oppositely facing abutments or shoulders one adjacent each end of the shank portion, skiving the shank while utilizing such shoulders to determine the longitudinal boundaries of the skiving cut, and forming asmooth sole edge by removing the shoulders therefrom.

3. That method of making feather edged soles which comprises the steps of producing at the lateral edge of the sole two pairs of abutments 0r shoulders one pair adjacent each end of its shank portion, molding the sole with reference to such shoulders as gages, and skiving the shank between such shoulders as longitudinal boundaries. 7

4. That method of making soles for boots,

shoes and the like, which comprises the steps 7 of forming at the edge of the sole tWo oppositely facing temporary abutments or shoulders for use in a subsequent operation on the sole, and forming a smooth edge by re moving the shoulders therefrom after the performance of said operation.

5. That method of making soles for boots, shoes and the like, which comprises the steps of forming at the lateral edge of the sole a pair of oppositely disposed abutments or shoulders for use in a subsequent operation on the sole, and trimming the margin of the sole after the performance of said operation to remove that portion of the edge utilized as the shoulders.

WILLIAM G. STEWART.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of intents.

Washington, D. G." 

